More than 200 children awaiting spinal surgery as Minister says ‘trajectory’ improving

The State is “nowhere near where we would want to be” on reducing spinal surgery waiting lists for children, the Minister for Health has said in recent weeks.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said, however, the “trajectory” is moving towards reducing this. There has been an increase in the “acuity” or severity of some of the cases, which resulted in multiple surgeries being required and influenced the waiting list.

The issues around surgeries for children with scoliosis and spina bifida are long-standing.

Long waiting lists have resulted in delays for children with a deteriorating condition, while there have been controversies around the use of unapproved devices during surgery.